Press Release: Hmong Leaders urge community to love and not to retaliate after shooting

From the Hmong American Association that offices at Green Country Event Center/Garnett Church of Christ:October 16, 2013, Tulsa, OK--There was unfortunate shooting at one of the Hmong Clans New Year Gathering on Saturday night, Oct. 12, 2013, in the Green County Event Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, causing five injuries. Fortunately, no one lost a life and three of the five victims were released from hospitals on Sunday afternoon, leaving two who were wounded in the torso and on the leg. (Latest report is that all five victims have been released.)

The Hmong community has lived in the Tulsa Metro area for more than 35 years, and sadly, this is the first such unprecedented incident. The Hmong community is shocked and disbelieved by the shooting. Due to the concern of the incident, the Hmong community leaders convened an emergency meeting yesterday (10/13/2013) to discuss what happened and how to prevent it from happening again.

After some investigations, it seemed that the shooting incident was not gang related; instead it was a conflict between two families of one of the 10 Hmong clans in the Tulsa Area. “We urge the Hmong and non-Hmong communities not to be panicked by this incident and the situation is under control," said Linda Lor, former Executive Director of Hmong Association.

The meeting reached an agreement that each clan leader would go back to counsel the clan families who were involved in the incident not to take any violent action against each other, and to encourage other families to stay calm, and continue to love, and support one another. And, for future safety of Hmong events, Hmong leaders and the Hmong Association has been and will continue to work with local authorities to provide extra security in the future.

While assistance to the victims is welcome, victims and families asked that their privacy be respected.

Hmong is an Asian ethnic group of refugees from Laos at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, with approximately 250,000 people scattered across the USA, and about 3,500 Hmong are in the Greater of Tulsa

Should you have any questions, please direct them to Xiathao Moua, President of Hmong American Association of Oklahoma and/or Linda Lor.